1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an image processing apparatus including a function to transmit scanned image data or other types of data by electronic mail (hereinafter, just referred to as email).
2. Description of Related Art
There is a conventional apparatus having a function to transmit a file of a scanned image as an attachment of an email and to, upon receiving an email with an attached file, print the attached file. Hereinafter, such a function is referred to as Internet FAX, and the transmission and reception functions of Internet FAX are referred to as Internet FAX transmission and Internet FAX reception, respectively. Internet FAX also has a function in which a sender (=a transmission apparatus) adds a message disposition notification (MDN) request to an email to be transmitted by Internet FAX and sends the email, whereas a recipient (=a reception apparatus) having received the email with the MDN request added sends an email as an MDN replay to the sender of the received email to notify the sender that the email sent by Internet FAX has been received. Such a technique concerning the MDN request and response is described in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2003-256339.
The conventional image processing apparatus, however, has a risk that a transmitted email may be read by a third party. Specifically, the transmitted email goes through two or more email servers or may be stored in an email box before arriving at the receiving apparatus. For this reason, even if the reception apparatus is powered off, the transmission apparatus cannot detect the status of the reception apparatus and normally sends the email. The email is therefore stored in the email box for a long time and may be read by a third party before the reception apparatus is powered on.